good evening. breaking news on the house floor of the u.s. capitol where congresswoman liz cheney is expected to speak any moment now. her office sent out a statement saying her speech would start around 8:00 p.m. likely, her last speech as house republican conference chair. now, with that happens, we will go live to hear her remarks. tomorrow house republicans are expected to vote on whether to keep liz cheney in her position. she's expected to lose that vote. it's the culmination of a months' long battle not just over her place in the party, but that of the former president and his false allegations about voter fraud which have continued

to be embraced by the vast majority of republicans in the house. i want to start with this speech. ryan nobles is on capitol hill with the latest. what do we expect from congresswoman cheney tonight? >> anderson, we expect her to stand her ground, as she has done since the beginning of this controversy and state emphatically that she believes donald trump is lying when he says there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election, and that by extension, republicans who enable him to spread that lie are actually causing long-term damage to the republican party. she's been very vocal about this, going all the way back to the beginning of the year during the impeachment trial. she of course, voted to impeach the former president. you'll remember a couple weeks ago when she chose to be a part of that small group of republicans that voted to impeach the president. that's when conservatives, members of the freedom caucus wanted her removed from the position initially. of course the house minority leader kevin mccarthy supported her at that time. she was able to hold onto the conference chair but an overwhelming number but in the past few weeks, she's continued

to answer direct questions about the former president, say what she believes to be true about this situation and that now looks as though it could cost her her job as the conference chair. anderson, the big difference between what we saw at the beginning of the year versus what we're seeing now is that she no longer enjoys that support from the minority leader kevin mccarthy who had about face on all of this. he calls her a distraction. says he's lost confidence in her and he has already picked her replacement in congresswoman elise stefanik. so what we'll see here tonight is essentially cheney's last plea to her colleagues to turn away from donald trump and his continuing to peddle this big lie and instead move past him and focus on conservative policies. it's not expected, anderson, that it will be enough and that she will be pushed out as conference chair in a vote tomorrow morning. >> it's so fascinating. kevin mccarthy months ago had supported cheney when she faced opposition, saying that the republican party was a big tent.

it's now essentially the size of a pup tent. there is no place in this republican party it seems currently in the house, especially, for republican leaders who are not willing to go along with the former president's big lie. >> you're absolutely right. it's important to pinpoint how it is a very narrow standard by which we are judging these members of republican leadership. especially when you look at liz cheney's voting record. she overwhelmingly voted with the former president when he was in office. in fact, she voted with him far more often than stefanik, who is set to replace their. this is only about one specific thing, and that is cheney refuses to side with the former president when it comes to his questions about the voting and the collection of votes in the 2020 election. she's repeatedly said president biden was duly elected, that the election was fair and free, and that is what has caused all the

consternation. it's caused the former president to continually attack her. it's what caused many of these loud voices on the far right of the republican party and the house of representatives to come after her. and the other thing that's interesting about this, anderson, and we have a picture of the house floor up right now, what is actually going to be kind of the opening act to liz cheney's speech here tonight, these are members of the house freedom caucus that are speaking of the house floor right now. they are talking about cancel culture. they're talking about all these different things that they believe have silenced conservatives across the country. they brought up dr. suess. they brought up twitter and facebook and things along these lines where just a couple hours, tomorrow morning they are set to vote liz cheney out of her position as the house conference chair because she spoke out about something that she believed to be true. i talked to adam kinzinger. earlier today, who is a republican from illinois, who is of course a vocal outspoken critic of president trump. he described what's happening to

liz cheney as the ultimate in cancel culture. he said it's appropriate for republicans to indicate out when they see it happening to them, but when it's something they're doing they're often blind to that. he called it hypocritical. that's exactly what we're seeing play out right now, anderson. >> liz cheney is extraordinary consistent whether you agree with her conservative principles or not. she's extraordinary consistent and it looks like liz cheney is about to approach the podium. we saw her in a shot there. she has been consistent. elise stefanik, it's really remarkable her evolution. let's listen to liz cheney. >> thank you very much my friend, colleague mr. buck for yielding me time this evening. i know the topic, mr. speaker, is cancel culture. i have some thoughts about that but tonight, i rise to discuss freedom and our constitutional duty to protect it. mr. speaker, i have been privileged to see firsthand how powerful and how fragile freedom is. 28 years ago i stood outside a

polling place, a schoolhouse in western kenya. soldiers had chased away people who were lined up to vote. a few hours later, they came streaming back in. risking further attack, undaunted in their determination to exercise their right to vote. in 1992 i sat across the table from a young mayor in russia and i listened to him talk of his dream of liberating his nation from communism. years later, for his dedication to the cause of freedom, boris nemsov was assassinated by vladimir putin's thugs. in warsaw in 1990 i listened to a young polish woman tell me that her greatest fear was that people would forget, they would forget what it was like to live under soviet domination. that they would forget the price of freedom. three men, an immigrant who

escaped castro's totalitarian regime, a young man who group behind the iron curtain and became his country's minister of defense, and a dissident who spent years in the soviet gulag have all told me it was the miracle of america captured in the words of president ronald reagan that inspired them. and i've seen the power of faith and freedom. i listened to pope john paul ii speak to thousands in nairobi in 1985. and 19 years later, i watched that same pope take my father's hands, look in his eyes, and say good bless america. god has blessed america, mr. speaker. but our freedom only survives if we protect it. if we honor our oath, taken before god in this chamber to support and defend the constitution. if we recognize threats to freedom when they arise.

today we face a threat america has never seen before. a former president who provoked a violent attack on this capitol in an effort to steal the election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince americans that the election was stolen from him. he risks inciting further violence. millions of americans have been misled by the former president. they have heard only his words but not the truth as he continues to undermine our democratic process, sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy really works at all. i am a conservative republican, and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law. the electoral college has voted. more than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple judges the former president

appointed have rejected his claims. the trump department of justice investigated the former president's claims of wide spread fraud and found no evidence to support them. the election is over. that is the rule of law. that is our constitutional process. those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the constitution. our duty is clear. every one of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the unraveling of our democracy. this is not about policy. this is not about partisanship. this is about our duty as americans. remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. i will not participate in that. i will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the

former president's crusade to undermine our democracy. as the party of regan, republicans have championed democracy, won the cold war and defeated the soviet communists. today, america is on the cusp of another cold war, this time with communist china. attacks against our democratic process and the rule of law empower our adversaries and feed communist propaganda that american democracy is a failure. we must speak the truth. our election was not stolen and america has not failed. i received a message last week from a gold star father who said standing up for the truth honors all who gave all. we must all strive to be worthy of the sacrifice of those who have died for our freedom. they are the patriots kathrine

lee baits described in the words of "america the beautiful" when she wrote "oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life." ultimately, mr. speaker, this is at the heart of what our oath requires. that we love our country more, that we love her so much that we will stand above politics to defend her. that we will do everything in our power to protect our constitution and our freedom that has been paid for by the blood of so many. we must love america so much that we will never yield in her defense. that is our duty. thank you. >> stunning statement from congresswoman liz cheney, speaking on the house floor, likely tomorrow to be removed

from her position as the third most powerful republican in the house. i want to bring in david axelrod, former senior advisor to president obama and congress woman mia love and cnn's jamie gangel. david, first of all, you heard what congresswoman cheney had to say. what do you think our audience was and did it change anything about her fate tomorrow? >> i don't think it will change anything about her fate tomorrow. i think her fate is probably sealed. i don't think she was speaking to the members of the caucus so much as she was speaking to republicans and americans across the country, and she underscored why she is in the dilemma she's in. she took a principled stand. she refuses to participate in trump's lie, and she has become inconvenient for the rest of the republican caucus who want to keep peace with trump, who want to use the big lie as a rationale for changing both voting laws across the country.

and it's very hard to do when one of the leaders of your caucus is out there speaking truth. but i will say, anderson, michelle obama once said "when they go low, we go high." this was a very big speech. this was a very lofty speech that went to fundamental principles of our democracy and i think the people who cast these votes against her tomorrow are going to look small in reflection. >> what is so stunning about it, jamie gangel, you've done a lot of reporting obviously on the run-up to this. there was no theatrics. there was no raised voices. it was very stray forward. it was classic liz cheney in many ways, saying our freedom only survives if we protect it. she spoke about experiences she firsthand of people she talked to in kenya, russia, poland fighting for freedom. she said today we have to face the threat america has never seen before. the former president she said quote risks inciting further violence. he continues to undermine our democratic processes, or process

more than 60 judges have rejected his claims. the election is over. that is our rule of law. she talked about those who are refusing to step to war with the constitution. she said remaining silent, ignoring the lie emboldens the liar, jamie. >> right. liz cheney believes that donald trump remains a threat to this country. and as you said, it was delivered with classic liz cheney style, no dramatics. but there were some parts that i know she's been writing this speech over several days and i think you hit on what she cared about most. she wanted to emphasize the first sentence is about duty, the last sentence is about duty. she wanted to make clear that the election is over. she also said something that actually i've spoken to her

about before and that is when she said millions of americans have been misled by the former president. i know that when she has gone back to wyoming and spoken to voters who believe the big lie, this is what she has tried to explain to him, and i would just say this. i believe that she sees the vote tomorrow not as a personal vote. it is a vote of principle. and if it is a vote on anyone, it a vote on her gop colleagues. i just want to say one thing. i don't know if you can see it, but on her lapel, she's wearing a pin that i believe her mother gave her, and it is a replica of george washington's battle flag and it is not an accident that she's wearing it tonight after

that vote tomorrow, which she expects to lose, she believes there is life after leadership and her long game is to take out donald trump. >> certainly if she also quoted a gold star father who apparently reached out to her saying standing up for the truth honors all who gave up all. congresswoman love, as a former republican house member, i'm wondering what you make of what you heard from liz cheney tonight. >> well, i think that she brings up a very good point and reminds not just members of congress but also the american people that when you are a member of congress, you actually take an oath. you raise your hands and you swear to protect the constitution to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. and that's why she talks about duty. she talks about her duty not just to the country, not just to the people who got her to where she is but also her duty to the

american people and to the conference. and so she also states i'm not going to sit back and allow this to happen and allow these lies to perpetuate. she also mentions that this is a threat that not just what we're seeing on the surface, but when other countries like china see that somebody is out there perpetuating this idea that electoral system does not work, it hurts us nationally and internationally. and so she is talking about this greater threat out there that they need to see the united states being strong. and so, you know, i think it was actually a very good speech. it was meant for the american people. and she is pretty much laying down the gauntlet saying they are making a choice between the constitution and the person. >> david axelrod, this is a

speech that will wear well over history. over time, this speech will stand up, compared to the cowardice that so many in the house right now have been exhibiting in going along with a lie that by all the reporting many of them privately don't even believe in, but they are simply afraid of not getting reelected because many of the people in their districts have bought into this lie that's being peddled by other networks and by the former president. >> well, and in fact, anderson, that is symbolized by elise stefanik. who is going to take her position. elise stefanik was considered a moderate in the republican party. >> she was endorsed by mitt romney years ago. >> and she began to fear that she was going to have a primary challenge. and so she decided to sidle up to trump. she became one of his big defenders in the first impeachment trial, and she published a piece on the day of the insurrection, january 6 repeating egregious lies about what happened in the election,

including 140,000 fraudulent votes and n fulton county alone, georgia, completely fictitious. she wrote it in print and gave it as her explanation for voting to overturn the election. these people, some of it is out of fear and others see profit in siding with trump. what liz cheney sees is a threat to our democracy by allowing this lie to flourish and yes, her speech may not lead to triumph in the short run but there are a lot of examples in history. margaret chase smith standing up and taking on joe mccarthy in the '50s when very few over, certainly very few other republicans were willing to do so. and there are others who have stood up in situations like this, and they will be remembered well in history, but she, you know, i agree with everything everyone else has said. this is fundamental to our democracy. and she is quite right.

liz cheney is a hawk on china. she's a hawk on russia and she understands what a propaganda triumph it is for them to have a former president leading his party in this direction and she's saying no, she's putting her hand up. she's refusing to go along. >> jamie, i mean, there is a long history of crass and craven politicians who have toadied up to bullies to remain in power, and over time, they don't usually end up so well, certainly at least not in the history books. congresswoman cheney, what happens to her now and i mean, at the larger picture, you know, for democrats watching and thinking well, this just doesn't really matter much because this is, you know, a battle happening within the republican party. we are a two-party system and we only work as a democracy when those two parties at least function on the basis of reality and one party does not completely believe a lie.

>> from my conversations with her and from some of her colleagues who also think that donald trump is a danger to the country, what they tell me is they're not sure that the republican party can be wrestled back from donald trump. you may remember that jared kushner told bob woodward in his book that trump had hijacked the republican party. what several republicans have said to me is it was a party that wanted to be hijacked. so i think your point is well taken in that the question now is list cheney has laid down her marker but can she be effective? can other republicans in effect never trump republicans either

take back the republican party, wrestle it away from trump? right now that doesn't look very likely or are they going to go in a new direction? >> david axelrod, one of our reporters was just giving some background information. i just heard it in my ear that her colleagues, fellow lawmakers, republican lawmakers, they cleared out of the chamber when she was speaking. only one according to the report i just got. only one remained to even listen to what she was saying. >> very heroic. i think that it's very clear that they've made their decision and as i said at the outset, she is embarrassing them by telling the truth. it's a truth they don't want to hear and they are acting on mass and trying to find comfort and strength by gathering together

in opposition to her, but it's the truth they're running from. it the truth they don't want to hear. you know, anderson, i would point out kevin mccarthy spoke that truth -- >> i was going to say, it the truth kevin mccarthy himself spoke. it's the truth, you know, lindsey graham, who, you know, in the hours after, you know, he'd fled in terror with everybody else because the mobs marauding through the halls of congress, you know, he gave a speech saying, you know, his love affair with the president had end and he was out and he couldn't do anymore. and then he gets yelled at the next day in an airport and all of the sudden he is golfing with the former president again. >> to jamie's point, trump is -- they talk about the big tent. it is a circus tent and he's the ring master right now. he has the whip. they are frightened of him. kevin mccarthy doesn't want donald trump to interrupt his ability to be speaker of the

house, and that means getting a majority. so one week after or maybe less than a week after mccarthy and trump got into a shouting match on january 6th, i guess it was a little later than that, he flies down to mar-a-lago to kiss the ring after donald trump taunted him and refused to send help when insurrectionists were breaking down the doors in the capitol. that is a measure of the control that trump had. liz cheney noted this in her op ed "the washington post" that i'm sure didn't sit well with mccarthy and others. i think he had already made his decision about her, but she is a source of tremendous embarrassment to the leadership of the house and to the members of the house who have pledged their fealty to trump to this horrendous story, this dangerous story about the election. you know, the irony of the whole thing is they say we don't want liz cheney, we don't want to talk about the past. we want the talk about the

future, yet they have pledged their fealty to a guy who does nothing but talk about the past. all he does is rant about the election and this false story about how he lost the election. that's all he does. and this is the republican party and by throwing liz cheney out, they've made this their identity. >> also, congresswoman love, steve scalise gave some quote earlier today that it's not right or wrong, it's that her focus wasn't right. she was focussing on the wrong things meaning calling out the former president on his dangerous lies and which are leading to the, you know, the breakup or the complete misfunction of the republican party. republicans these days are not talking about -- everybody on the floor tonight was talking about cancel culture. there is no health care program. there is no, you know, they spent so much money under the trump years they have no moral standing to talk about busted

budgets or concern over the deficit or government spending. you know, where is the republican party as a party of ideas, which whether you agree with them or not in the past, they certainly seem to have it in the past. >> yeah, so, you know, this is -- i'm a republican. i believe in fiscal discipline limited government, personal responsibility, free markets. i believe in all of those things. and i think that there is so many other republicans that are sitting there looking at this and saying when can we start getting judged based on those policies again? when can we start talking about those policies again? they have actually said look, this is not about pro-trump, anti-trump. this is about lost confidence. this is about her inability to keep a message. this is about her inability to unite the party. and i -- and i as a colleague, a former colleague and a friend of

all of these people want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but i have some issues. one, with timing. i also have an issue with the fact that she is -- she doesn't misalign with them on policy and is it just her responsibility by the way as a conference chair to unite the conference? i mean, i think that everyone in leadership actually bears that responsibility but nobody is taking that responsibility. they decided that they wanted to throw her under the bus, and i also would say that there is a cost to all of this. liz cheney is not going to go away. she is going to continue to stand up for what she believes in and as long as she is there and as long as she has a microphone, she's going to be able to -- she's going to say i'm not going to go away. i'm going to continue to talk about this because i believe it threatens the american way of life. >> yeah. mia love, jamie gangel, david

axe axelrod moments ago, liz cheney on the house floor. >> today we face a threat america has never seen before, a former president who provoked a violent attack on this capitol in an effort to steal the election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince americans that the election was stolen from him. he risks inciting further violence. millions of americans have been misled by the former president they have heard only his words but not the truth as he continues to undermine our democratic process, sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy really works at all. i am a conservative republican, and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law. the electoral college has voted more than 60 state and federal courts including multiple judges the former president appointed have rejected his claims. the trump department of justice investigated the former

president's claims of wide spread fraud and found no evidence to support them. the election is over. that is the rule of law. that is our constitutional process. >> i'm joined now by michael gea gearson, a columnist for "the washington post" and former speech writer for the second president. first of all, michael, we'll talk about the party in a second but i'm wondering what you made of her remarks? >> the thing that really struck me as i listened is she's making an argument, talking about the rule of law and points about constitutional self-government. her opponents are not answering any of those arguments. they're not engaging her in a discussion about very important matters. rather, it's just politics as usual. she is saying that the united states is at a hinge point, that this is actually a choice about do we want self-government or do

we want something else? something that's unknown and untested and unsafe. and so, you know, i wish that there could be a debate between chain cheney and mccarthy, but i'm afraid it would be a little one-sided. >> it's interesting. jeff zeleny tweeted out that ann grayer with cnn said once liz cheney came to the house floor, the republican lawmakers cleared out. ken buck is the only one watching liz cheney speak according to ann greer of cnn. mia love was talking about what is their message? they don't have a message right now. they are not talking -- as you said, they are not talking about ideas. they are not engaging in debate on these substantive things. they're talking on things which, you know, make for good ratings on fox and other networks, but it's not about, you know, a

battle of ideas with democrats or even within republican party. >> well, trump does not offer a governing vision. he offers it himself and he asked people to believe in him. this is now a party that's really defined not by shared ideas or shared convictions but by shared delusions that are set by trump himself. he wants -- this is a crisis in the republican party. trump wants to determine not just what people think and do, he wants to determine their view as reality itself. he wants people to get rid of their critical judgement in order to accept his total authority. and that is an attack on self-government. that is making our representatives into something that's less than the calling their constitutional calling and i think that that's what cheney is calling them out about.

>> by the way, it's annie grayer, not anne grayer. what happens? freedom only survives if we protect it and face a threat america has never seen before. we're a two-party system if one party is not accepting reality and undermining and pledging allegiance to somebody actively undermining the very democratic process, how do we function? >> well, the speaker has to eventually break. i'm not sure it going to break through rational discourse. i think republicans are going to have to start losing in key races. if americans keep supporting them and if they win the house in the midterms, there is very little reason for a party that thinks it's on the advance to reform. parties reform when they think they're down. that's what bill clinton did and

with the democratic leadership council. that's what tony blair did. these were parties that were down on their luck and there was another approach that was offered and so eventually, i think republicans and others are going to have to say this isn't going to work politicly. that's going to be what breaks the fever. >> i want to play one more thing congresswoman cheney said for our viewers and then talk about it. >> i will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy. >> what if that fever does not break? what if the republicans win the house in, you know, in the midterms? >> well, this is a terrible danger. we have one party, major party at the national level that is not committed to accept any

outcome of legitimate elections. that's not something that you can tolerate in the long run. that is a recipe for kind of edging towards authoritarian. i think it is a stark choice and she -- you know, i think that's what cheney's contribution was here tonight, major contribution is she put it in a historical context of this is a country deciding on the nature of its own self-government. and the republican party is going to have to play a role in that. >> it's an extraordinary moment in our history and a terrifying moment. michael gerson, i appreciate your time. we'll continue the conversation in a moment. tina smith joins us and about the fight inside the republican party and later, the family of a black man shot by north carolina deputies last month sees police body cam videos of that shooting. andrew brown junior's family watched videos.

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discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter. more on breaking news, liz cheney talking about the assault on truth as the former president continues to spread lies about the election and on the verge of losing her leadership role for calling him out. more on that in a moment. there was another moment of questionable truth on the hill, a heated bill on the hearing on the coronavirus. once again, republican senator rand paul clashed with dr. anthony fauci. senator paul used the time to question the origins of the virus in a theory about the wuhan lab. here is part of the exchange. >> for years, dr. ralph baric, a virologyist in the u.s. has been collaborating with a doctor with the wuhan virology institute, sharing his theories about how to create super viruses.

this gain of function research has been funded by the nih. dr. fauci, do you still support funding of the nih funding of the lab in wuhan? >> senator paul, with all due respect, you're entirely and completely incorrect that the nih has not ever does not now fund gain of function research in the wuhan institute. >> do they fund dr. barrack? >> we do not fund -- >> do you fund dr. barrett's gain of function research? >> dr. barrett does not do gain of function research and if it is, it's according to the guidelines and being conducted in north carolina. if you look at the grant, and you look at the progress reports, it is not gain of function despite the fact that people tweet that -- >> so do you -- >> well, joining me now for more prospective, senator tina smith. who was also at the hearing today. senator smith, appreciate you

joining us. i want to get to what happened at the hearing with dr. fauci. first, i would be remiss if i didn't ask you your reaction to what liz cheney said on the house floor ahead of the certain ouster as gop conference chair tomorrow morning. >> thank you, anderson. i was watching here and i was just struck by how dignified she was. i suspect if liz cheney and i fill out a political questionnaire, we'd find we disagree on just about everything but we both love our country and to think she's being driven out of leadership of her party because she speaks the truth, because she tells the truth about the big lie that former president trump continues to push i think is just such a sad commentary, but yet she was just so strong and so dignified. i think as someone said, she was really speaking to history tonight. >> you were next to dr. fauci in after senator paul. i want to play a portion of that. >> dr. fauci, what is the impact

of conspiracy theories peddled by senator rand paul and others on americans' willingness to take this vaccine? a vaccine that by all accounts is remarkable for its safety and efficacy? >> well, conspiracy theories certainly are not helpful in what we're trying to do. i guess i can say that with some degree of confidence. >> i'm going to -- your -- were you planning to ask that question or was that in relation to what you had just heard from senator paul? >> i mean, i went after senator paul and i'm laughing because dr. fauci is the master of under statement i think in his response to saying that these conspiracy theories are not helpful. no, i was planning on asking a question, which i went to next about what we are learning about how to overcome people's resistance to the virus and

resistance to taking the virus and some success stories we've had in duluth, minnesota. but here you have rand paul. he is a united states senator. he is a physician. he serves on the health committee and he chooses to use his time to peddle these ridiculous conspiracies somehow dr. fauci is responsible for the covid-19 virus. it just such a sad commentary and so completely beneath what the work is that we have to do on the health committee and senate. >> yeah, i mean, he's an eye ophthalmologist you would think that would have at least more respect for medical science. dr. fauci, he later told cnn's dr. sanjay gupta, do you think senators might be playing to the cameras? it's certainly -- that could certainly be it. the idea that fauci is somehow a villain to trumpify politicians, what do you say to that idea?

>> let's be honest. this is not the first time senator paul has done this. he's done this over and over again. it's his favorite ploy. so i mean, that's the problem here we have dr. fauci who has basically dedicated his life to science, to protecting americans' health and to be like this must get pretty exhausting, i think. but, you know, the point of this, of course, is that we have serious business to do in the health committee. we have variants that are springing up. we are trying to get -- how do we get to increasing vaccinations uptakes in this country. we have questions how young people are going to be adapting to taking this vaccine now that it's approved for children. so we have serious business to be doing and not just sort of this kind of play to the camera that i think we saw today and we see frankly too often. >> what do you think we do to get more people vaccinated? i mean, whether it's vaccine hesitancy, whether it's access issues, whatever it may be?

>> one thing we're learning in minnesota and around the country what we might characterize as hesitancy is lack of opportunity. this is what we learned in duluth. we put a pop-up clinic right near the transit station, and people that are running from job to home to child care to the grocery store, there it is right where they can get to it easily and conveniently. they get signed up. they get the vaccine, they go on their way. they're not hesitant to get the vaccine, they just didn't have the opportunity to get it. i think that's one of the things we're learning. there are lots of reasons why there is a continuation of reasons why people don't get the vaccine but it is -- we can make big headway by going to people where they are with trusted providers. >> we should also point out dr. fauci in his exchange with senator paul did stress he fully supports further investigations the origins of covid-19. what more do you want to know about what happened in wuhan? >> i of course want to understand how this happened and

what -- and there is an investigation that's going on right now. so i think that's very, very important. we need to understand from a scientific basis also what happened. but to somehow impugn the credibility of dr. fauci for whatever reason is just completely unacceptable. >> senator tina smith, i really appreciate your time. thank you. >> yeah, thank you. up next, the family of andrew brown jr. gets to see more of the police body camera footage of the fatal shooting and what his attorneys are saying about what they saw. (gong rings) - this is joe. (combative yelling) he used to have bad breath. now, he uses a capful of therabreath fresh breath oral rinse to keep his breath smelling great, all day long. (combative yelling) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash.

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in north carolina, the family of a black man fatally shot by police last month were allowed to watch more body cam videos of the death of the victim. in a moment we're joined by two attorneys for the family. how is the video being described to members of the community, what's the reaction so far? >> reporter: anderson, it was nothing short of extraordinary, just a couple of hours ago when the attorneys for the brown family came out and described what they saw on this body camera footage. since that time protesters have been marching in the street. they've broken up for the night but they were very animated earlier after they heard these accounts. it was extraordinary, anderson, because it was a polar opposite of the account given by the

district attorney several days ago in court. at that day, april 28, in court, he said that andrew brown, quote, made contact with the deputies with his vehicle and only then were shots fired. well, a couple of hours ago the attorneys for the brown family, after having viewed at least 16 minutes of body camera footage and possibly as much as 18 1/2 minutes of this footage, had a completely opposite account of this. they said that at no point in the tape that they viewed about andrew brown make contact with the deputies. in fact they said it was the opposite, the deputies actually made contact with his car first with their hands. they said that when they came upon the scene, andrew brown was sitting there in his car, hands on the wheel, at some point he may have even been on his phone, and that the car only moved after shots were fired, and at no point depots any kind of a threat to the deputies. it was really an extraordinary account. it was very moving. and i have to say that the attorneys had a lot of detail in their account, that andrew womble did not provide in court

several days ago. the attorneys were very specific about what they saw and made a very compelling argument at least to those of white house were gathered there listening to them, that andrew brown did not pose a threat to these deputies. so they went from that to calling for prosecutions, arrests, jail sentences for the three deputies who did the shooting. they're also repeating their calls tonight for the district attorney, andrew womble, to recuse himself from the case because they argue he works much too closely with the sheriff's department in this building behind me, with the deputies involved here, and that he cannot possibly conduct this case, this investigation and any trials, in any kind of an objective way. andrew womble steadfastly still tonight refusing to recuse himself, anderson. >> brian todd, appreciate that. i want to speak to the attorneys now, joining me now, two attorneys for the family of andrew brown jr., harry daniels and chance lynch. mr. lynch, you were able to view

the body cam footage today with the brown family. could you explain what you saw? >> absolutely, anderson. first, thanks for having us. today was an emotional day. i was able to view the footage with two of mr. brown's sons. and it was very clear to us, we went through six videos. one was the dash cam of one of the vehicles, and then five body cam videos that we were able to watch. >> from different officers, different vantage points? >> that's right, anderson, different vantage points. still, even with the body cams, as you can imagine, we were only able to see what their bodies were actually facing. and so we were limited to be able to see all of the surroundings. of course you've got to remember, anderson, that their faces were redacted, the presiding judge ordered that some of that would be redacted, so we didn't get to see any

faces. we were able to see weapons. and we were absolutely able to see mr. brown sitting in his car, afraid. the look on his face, he was terrified, and was in shock when they arrived on the scene. and once a gunshot was fired, the car backed in reverse. he turned his wheel and began to travel away from the police officers that were on the scene. and as he traveled across the grass in his yard, they unloaded their weapons. subsequently a shot to the back of his head, when he crossed the street and crashed into a tree in his neighbor's yard. >> the first shot, was it clear to you when that was fired in terms of the overall time of this -- from them first getting there, why the first shot was

fired and who shot it? >> anderson, that's a really good question. when they got on the scene, there was so much chaos going on. they were yelling different things. some were saying "hands up." others were saying "get out of the car." the commands were very unclear. you could see mr. brown's hands at all times. it appears that in one vantage point, he may have been holding his phone, his right hand, if i'm not mistaken, was on the steering wheel. so his hands were seen the entire time. never at any vantage point that we see where mr. brown was a threat to the police. >> and just to be clear, the district attorney said when officers approached and attempted to open a door of mr. brown's car, the vehicle backed up and made contact with them, stopped, made contact again. did you see that? >> anderson, i'm not sure, i said this earlier during the

press conference, i'm not sure what video the district attorney is talking about. all that i can tell you is this. they chose the footage we would get to see today. they chose the images that we would get to see. they also chose the evidence that they would redact. now, what we saw today was clear. when mr. brown put his car in reverse, there were no officers behind his car. now, there were two officers that it appears that they were both reaching out at the same time to attempt to grab maybe the door handle. that shot was fired, and when mr. brown began to go backwards, they may have been reaching out toward mr. brown. but mr. brown never caused or operated his vehicle to go towards an officer. so i'm not sure what he's talking about. >> when the first shot was fired, how close was it fired? it was fired i assume at mr. brown? or what did you see?

>> absolutely, you could see the -- you could hear the shot, and then you could see the bullet hole go in the front of the windshield. at that point, mr. brown goes -- puts his car in reverse and he goes backward. >> was he hit? was he hit by that first shot, do you know? >> i'm not sure. i'm not sure if he was hit by that first shot or not. he was able to try to get away. it was clear on his face that he was afraid for his life and he was trying to get away from the ambush and those officers that were present. and when he drove away, anderson, i think one of the things that's very important here, is when he was driving away, there is a section of land where there is pavement for the cars to park. he had crossed that pavement, driving across the yard, and the officers stopped midway of that pavement and began to unload their weapons.

so many shots were fired that we found great difficulty to be able to count the number of shots. >> anderson, i stated before that the term "fleeing" was used initially. it is clear that mr. brown was trying to save his own life. if the officers get on scene and immediately start shooting mr. brown, he's not doing anything to cause a threat, one would think, they are there to kill me and i need to get away. they were there. they shot at him. he tried to save his life and they in fact killed him. >> where do things stand on the video actually being released to the public? do you guys know? >> well, the position -- north carolina law is currently in legislature, in session, trying to get body cams made public. i know they're moving in that direction pretty rapidly, it's a bipartisan effort. however the family, we are making our own petition for the

release of the videos, the full videos, no redaction, to be released to us and the family has an overarching, compelling reason to get those videos. that petition will be filed. i do know that we will move fairly quickly on that matter to go before the court to make our arguments to get the videos released. >> harry daniels, chance lynch, i really appreciate your time. we'll continue to keep following this. i appreciate it. still a lot of questions unanswered. we end tonight with republican reaction to our breaking news on liz cheney's speech on the house floor ahead of a vote likely to oust her from republican leadership. cheney says she will not go quietly, that she will continue to talk about the former president's lies and she says the party is abandoning the rule of law. moments ago a republican congressman who supported cheney's stand, adam kinzinger of illinois, tweeted, this is leadership, this is integrity, this is liz cheney and i'm damn proud to support her. that vote is expected tomorrow morning. we'll cover that, of course. the news continues. i'll hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." chris?

>> this is a very important night. it's a pivotal night and we'll see which way it takes us. but the choices are pretty clear and the determination of one side of the aisle is more clear than ever. appreciate the coverage, anderson. it's important to share this night with you. i'm privileged to be here. i'm chris cuomo, welcome to "prime time." we have lived a lot of history in recent years. you'll have to remember tonight. tonight we witnessed the moment that the gop decided to turn its back on self-government and to become something less than that. we don't know what yet. liz cheney gave a speech tonight in defense not simply of her own fate as number three in the leadership, but the fate of her party and in a larger sense our way of life. now, be clear. i'm sure the media will hype what she said. it was not revelatory.